Proposed state legislation is proceeding quickly in Michigan. A bill that does not require any particular equipment, such as brakes or a steering wheel, and that will not require that a human driver be located in a vehicle could soon become law. The State Senate held a hearing yesterday.
The bill, SB 995, also provides for connected vehicle platooning and it envisions hassle-free ride hailing services that are completely driverless. The definitions in the bill places its regulation footprint on every vehicle operated on Michigan roads that is partially to totally autonomous.
I'm feeling bad for the Buckeyes in Ohio already and I'm dreaming in blue and yellow. Fingerprints of Ann Arbor's academicians, Detroit's automakers, and visitors from Silicon Valley are all over this bill. Here is tracking information about SB 995.
There is more
The bill would establish the Michigan Council on Future Mobility. Eleven voting members will be appointed by the governor. Right now that would mean business interests would be well represented, I assume. There would also be representatives of various state departments, including transportation and law enforcement, as well as non-voting members from the state legislature.
The bill also takes a dim view of humans who are driving partially self-driving vehicles - such as the Tesla one-second-the-car-is-in-control,-the-next-second-you-are variety - AND at the same time using any device in one's hand or on one's lap. Perhaps the car companies helped to craft that language to avoid quite distracting and entertaining stuff installed on car dashboards. Does not look like you will be permitted to watch a movie and monitor the vehicle at the same time, at least if you are using your tablet or phone.
And more
SB 996 calls into being "SAVE projects" that only vehicle manufacturers may participate in. In case you are wondering, SB 997 defines a SAVE project as basically a driverless ride hailing operation. The SB 996 summary puts it this way:
The term "SAVE project" would be defined by Senate Bill 997 as an initiative that authorizes eligible motor vehicle manufacturers to make available to the public on-demand automated vehicle networks. "On-demand automated vehicle network" would mean a digital network or software application used to connect passengers to automated motor vehicles, not including commercial motor vehicles, in participating fleets for transportation between points chosen by passengers, for transportation between locations chosen by the passenger when the automated motor vehicle is operated without any control or monitoring by a human operator. [Emphasis added.]Find the status of SB 996 here.
FYI: The Michigan legislature provides online access to the text of each bill, tracking information, and a summary analysis. I will try to confine myself to the tracking page because it links to everything else. This situation is pretty common.
SAVE projects and private roads - that the public has an interest in
Testing of autonomous vehicles at research centers and on private roads are specifically addressed in SB 997. I like looking at the analysis of each Michigan bill because the actual text is not generally user friendly. Still, I imagine, courts would find the actual text of any law passed to be controlling in a dispute that reaches the judiciary.
SB 998 is the usual get-out-of-jail-free-card in driverless legislation for manufacturers of driverless vehicles and the mechanics who repair them according to manufacturer specifications. The reason I find this provision intriguing now is because it does not conceive of a kit, such as Comma.ai or Drive.ai are developing, that would transform a normal car into a driverless one, rather inexpensively and easily. As these could be on the market soon, it seems like a rather large oversight.
An article from Crain's does a nice job of discussing who has been involved with crafting the Michigan legislation. The article discusses a hearing on the bill.
On the West Coast
California seems stuck in the mud compared to Michigan. It took a long time to pass a simple one-off piece of legislation to allow a driverless shuttle pilot to be tested at an office park. This went on for months. The bill is AB 1592. It has passed both houses of the state legislature and will presumably become law. One does not get the sense of shared momentum in California as exists between the Michigan legislators and their home-state vehicle manufacturers.
The office park shuttle will be another cute pilot project and it will be limited to 35 mph, according to the legislation. Here's an article that summarizes the bill and process.
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